NPR 2008-03-21

From NPR news in washington,I'm Barbara Kline.

Forecasters warn of continued flooding in the Saint Louis area and in parts of Southern Missouri where at least 5 people have died and hundreds have lost their homes to flooding. From member station KSMU Missy Shelton reports.

Though the rain has moved out, streams and rivers continue to flow well above their banks, making it difficult for some homeowners to clean up. Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder visited two homes in southwest Missouri that had been flooded. "They've lost irreplaceable pictures of the children when they were little, family mementos 1 of that nature. In both cases, those couples were holding up extraordinarily 2 well. And I said to them, help is on the way." Help for 70 counties and the city of Saint Louis will come in the form of federal funds for repairing damaged infrastructure 3. For NPR News, I’m Missy Shelton in Springfield Missouri.

A major earthquake has rocked western China. The US Geological Survey reports the 7.2 magnitude quake struck Xinjiang province, a large sparsely 4 populated area that borders Tibet.

Vice 5 President Dick Cheney made a previously 6 unpublicized visit to Afghanistan today. The vice president urged NATO countries to play a bigger role in fighting the Taliban, and called on Pakistan to crack down on militants 8 operating along the border.

Two audio messages purportedly 9 from Osama Bin 10 Laden 11 have been released. The satellite channel Al Jazeera broadcast a recording 12 urging Palestinians to use iron and fire to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Earlier, a militant 7 Islamist website posted a recording said to be of Bin Laden accusing Pope Benedict of helping 13 a Crusade against Islam. The message warned there would be a “severe” reaction to European publications that reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. A Vatican spokesman says the accusations 14 are baseless and the Pope has criticized the cartoons.

Some of Wall Street’s biggest investment firms have begun taking advantage of billions of dollars in loans from the Federal Reserve. NPR's Dave P has details.

The Federal Reserve disclosed Thursday that several Wall Street institutions have taken the Fed up on its offer for emergency loans. The central bank made the offer last Sunday in an effort to help keep the financial system from collapsing 15. So far, the firms that've asked for help have average nearly 13.5 billion dollars in daily borrowing since the offer was made. The Fed has not disclosed which investment firms are getting the loans. However, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley said they have begun to test the lending program. The Fed says the program is similar to the one used by commercial banks and it will be offered for at least 6 months. Dave P, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow closed the day up at 261 point, at 12,361; the NASDAQ was up 48 points; the S&P was up 31.

This is NPR.

Space shuttle Endeavor astronauts are working outside the International Space Station for the next several hours. They are testing a new heat shield repair technique involving a kind of caulking 16 gun. Damaged heat tiles led to the destruction of space shuttle Columbia and its 7 crew members in 2003.

Humans might not have been the first to walk on two legs, according to a new analysis of a thigh 17 bone from Africa. As NPR's Christopher Joyce reports, it suggests ape-like creatures walked upright 6 million years ago.

Scientists have long considered upright walking as a hallmark of human evolution. But it's been difficult to determine when it first happened. A new analysis of a thigh bone in Nairobi, Kenya suggests that an ape-like creature called Orrorin was walking around on two legs 6 million years ago. That's 4 million years before our own genus Homo evolved and improved on the upright walking body design. It confirms earlier but inconclusive evidence that walking on two legs dates that far back. The bone evidence does not solve the ultimate puzzle of our upright walking, however: what caused our earliest ancestors to come down out of the trees and start living life on two legs? The research appears in this week's issue of the journal Science. Christopher Joyce, NPR News.

Actor Paul Scofield has died. Considered one of Britain's greatest Shakespearean actors on both stage and screen, he was best known for his film performance as Sir Thomas More in "A Man For All Seasons" for which he won an Academy Award. Scofield, who was 86 years old, had been suffering from leukemia. He died at a hospital near his home in Southern England.

I'm Barbara Kline, NPR News in Washington.